Texas’ Brown has handled Nebraska since ’98

[r06ue1]

Texas’ Brown has handled Nebraska since ’98

 

By JIM VERTUNO, AP Sports Writer

Oct 9, 4:22 am EDT

 

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)—Texas coach Mack Brown needs something to turn around a season teetering on collapse.

 

How about the Nebraska Cornhuskers?

 

No. 7 Nebraska (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) will be favored to beat Texas (3-2) next weekend in Lincoln, but there’s no escaping history that shows Texas and Brown have had little trouble with the Cornhuskers since the berth of the Big 12.

 

Brown is 7-1 against Nebraska since 1998, including several of his biggest wins with the Longhorns.

 

And don’t think Brown, who cut his coaching teeth against Nebraska in the old Big 8 conference as an assistant at Iowa State and Oklahoma, isn’t quietly proud of that record.

 

With Nebraska bolting the Big 12 for the Big Ten next season, next Saturday could be the last time these league heavyweights play each other.

 

“I’m sorry that Texas and Nebraska won’t be playing in the future,” Brown said.

 

With that record, it’s easy to see why. Brown also has deep respect for a program that he considers among the greats in the game.

 

In 1979, Brown left a job at Memphis to go to Iowa State specifically so he could coach against Nebraska’s Tom Osborne and Oklahoma’s Barry Switzer.

 

“They were winning and I wanted to see how they did it … Coach Osborne was a guy who I wanted to be just like him,” Brown said.

 

The young coach marveled not just at the success on the field but also the Nebraska fan support.

 

“They were all wearing red before fans did that sort of stuff,” Brown said.

 

“Everything they had,” he said, “is what I wanted.”

 

Once he got to Texas, Brown started beating Nebraska. Again and again and again—in agonizing fashion for Huskers fans.

 

In 1998, Brown took his first Texas team into Lincoln and ended the Cornhuskers’ 47-game home winning streak. Nebraska beat Texas in the 1999 Big 12 championship, but Brown has been getting the best of the Huskers ever since.

 

In 2002, Texas returned to Lincoln and did it again, snapping the Huskers’ 26-game home winning streak. For 11 years, the only team to go into Lincoln and win was Texas.

 

Texas started its run of dominance over Nebraska in 1996, when the Longhorns, three-touchdown underdogs, shocked the defending national champions 37-27 in the Big 12 championship game.

 

Brown knows the Longhorns will play a Nebraska program itching to unleash 14 years of payback and sensing a wounded Texas team primed for a pounding.

 

Brown expects his last trip into Lincoln to be a memorable one.

 

“Now we’re on the edge of history,” Brown said. “For a young guy who grew up in Cookeville, Tenn. … Nebraska is still big to me. It’s still a moment that regardless of how we play and how the game comes out, there are moments in your life that are historical and you will remember them. I’ll remember going to Nebraska for the last time.”

 

Texas has its problems with an offense struggling to score touchdowns. Quarterback Garrett Gilbert has yet to produce the sort of game-saving magic that defined Colt McCoy’s career.

 

McCoy beat Nebraska three times. The last win came in last season’s Big 12 championship game when game officials put 1 second back on the clock after a pass out of bounds, allowing Texas to kick the winning field goal—angering the Huskers and coach Bo Pelini.

 

The Texas defense also has struggled the past two weeks, with sloppy play helping UCLA and Oklahoma put together game-changing scoring drives.

 

Brown has shown he can fix problems post-Oklahoma. He is 12-0 in the first game after the biggest game on Texas’ schedule every season, with five of those wins coming against ranked teams.

 

Nebraska will be the highest-ranked opponent of that bunch and it will be the first time since 2002 that Texas had to play a ranked team on the road after facing the Sooners.

 

Win and Texas ends a two-game crisis—and the rivalry—with another heartbreaker for Nebraska.

 

Lose and the Longhorns are stuck in the long slog of a rebuilding year just one season after they played for the national championship.

 

“Games like this one are games coaches live for,” Brown said. “You want that moment. You want that chance. Everything will be against us. That’s a cool challenge for these coaches and a team that’s got some growing up to do.”

 

 

Texas’ Brown has handled Nebraska since ’98

[308_Husker]

The only thing Mack Brown is going to be handling on Saturday is a new pair of underwear after he sh!ts himself at the sight of the Huskers.

[RedDenver]

Interesting that the writer says Brown has had "little trouble beating Nebraska." Brown has lost by 16 (1999 CCG) and won by 24 (2003 with Vince Young). Other than that he's won the rest of the games but always by 4 points or less. That sounds like quite a bit of trouble.

[Landlord]

Somehow, we invent new, absurd ways to lose to Texas as if it's our job.

[BigRedPowerWagon]

Im starting to think this is our trap game. We might be better but its texas. And we always seem to struggle with texas. We are ranked to high and i know texas has a chip on its shoulder for the past 2 games. But then again we have one on our shoulders as well. And i think we are pissed off more then texas is. I hope this isnt even a contest and we take texas down massively.

[huskernumerouno]

Bo has a way of getting this team up for big games, It is time to break the cycle,

[SaturnDrew]

Im starting to think this is our trap game. We might be better but its texas. And we always seem to struggle with texas. We are ranked to high and i know texas has a chip on its shoulder for the past 2 games. But then again we have one on our shoulders as well. And i think we are pissed off more then texas is. I hope this isnt even a contest and we take texas down massively.

 

However many points Texas has outscored us by since 1998, we will make that up in this game alone and then some. Mark my words. Unless I'm wrong. Then just ignore me.

[suh_fan93]

Interesting that the writer says Brown has had "little trouble beating Nebraska." Brown has lost by 16 (1999 CCG) and won by 24 (2003 with Vince Young). Other than that he's won the rest of the games but always by 4 points or less. That sounds like quite a bit of trouble.

I was thinking the same thing. I'd say the majority of those wins weren't games they had little trouble winning. The writer is obviously a Texas fan.

[ESPY]

Bo's record as head coach vs Texas is 0-1, and we all know the one. I believe he lost to the Vince Young-led Horns in '03 as our DC, but that's it. Hopefully any psychological advantage Texas might have isn't nearly as big over our team as it is over us, the fans.

 

I truly believe Bo knows how to make us turn the corner in games like this, and this is the game we're gonna do it. He's obviously proven he's up to the challenge of preparing for teams like Texas...but we've been the underdog in those big games. IMO he's gonna step up to the challenge of being the favorite, prep our boys for the Horns to take down anything they bring at us, and end this ridiculous losing streak. Time to pay the piper. Let's get it on!

[Blackshirt316]

How many of those wins were against the worst coaches in the worst years of our program's modern history again? Yeah. and they weren't exactly blowouts either.

 

I'm not worried.

[HuskerGBR]

How many of those wins were against the worst coaches in the worst years of our program's modern history again? Yeah. and they weren't exactly blowouts either.

 

I'm not worried.

 

Yeah exactly. And in 2002 we were 7-7...not exactly our best year either. So nice try Texas writer guy.

[HuskerT]

Im starting to think this is our trap game. We might be better but its texas. And we always seem to struggle with texas. We are ranked to high and i know texas has a chip on its shoulder for the past 2 games. But then again we have one on our shoulders as well. And i think we are pissed off more then texas is. I hope this isnt even a contest and we take texas down massively.

No doubt we're going to get Texas's best shot, but I wouldn't call it a trap game. If our guys aren't ready to play in this game they need to have their heads & hearts examined!

[GMoose]

Their record against us in the last decade is impressive, but since 98' they've won over Frank Solich and Bill Callahan. I'm not saying they don't get credit for those wins or anything, it's just not as impressive as sit sounds when you look at it with respect to the point in time relative to our program. It's kinda like when KU rolled us in 07. It was impressive, but considering it was the worst year we saw in about 60 years takes a bit of the shine off.

 

Also considering the fact that they have only beat BO's Nebraska once, in literally as close of fashion you can, makes this little history lesson pretty moot.

[irafreak]

I like FS and think he's a solid coach....that said we can put all of this into perspective by saying Mack Brown has had one win over a Nebraska coach that hasn't been fired.

[GHOST]

If iam texas i'd be more worried about cody green coming in the game and throwing the ball then t magic running the ball.